A Good Kind of Tired

This past weekend, my family and I had the pleasure of what Minnesotan’s lovingly call, “going up north!” Essentially, it means communing with nature either on the north shore of Lake Superior or in the North woods/Lakes area. It is also understood that what you experience up there is a profound secret only relevant to those who truly “get it!”

Like most things Minnesotan, the northern part of the state is home to many BIG things. Lake Superior is astoundingly dark, wide and deep while the trees surrounding the area tower over you everywhere you look. Instantly becoming very small and insignificant, it’s not unusual to feel like you’ve been gone a week when in fact, you only went up for the weekend.

There is also a tendency to sleep really well when traveling up yonder. You not only sleep a good long time but deeply which is saying a lot when slumbering on cabin mattresses! I guess, it has something to do with how small I feel when enveloped in such majestic surroundings. I tend to become unobtrusive in a way that makes me grateful and relieved all at the same time. Grateful that there is so much beauty around me and relieved that I have no power to do anything about it except admire it.

It is truly a gift to be surrounded with so much significance and to realize that so much is possible whether I’m in control of it or not. I guess that is why I sleep so well when northern bound. A peacefulness that a child might feel while all the big people take care of it. Such a cathartic release of stress that makes it possible for me to just rest and relax while this great big world goes on and on for miles and miles around me. A good kind of tired, the kind that invites me into a deep slumber only to awaken to the same beautiful surroundings that were there before my arrival and will surely continue to be there long after my departure.

How about you? Is there something in your life right now that begs surrender? Perhaps circumstances beyond your control? What would happen if you simply let it go?